Ships identify themselves as Chinese around Hormuz

SOME COMMERCIAL SHIPS near or in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf have declared themselves as China-linked since the Iran war began, marine traffic data show, as their operators apparently try to reduce risks of being targeted in attacks.

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At least eight vessels in or near the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman changed their declared destination signals to short messages such as “CHINA OWNER’ or “CHINA OWNER&CREW, according to data on the ship tracking platform MarineTraffic analysed by The Associated Press.